Hydraulic hoses can be incredibly complex. If you're having trouble finding the ideal fittings for your hydraulic hose, there's often a temptation to rebuild the hose assembly using a missized hydraulic hose and a jump size fitting instead. This solution might seem like a harmless, easy fix at first, but this could cause a decrease in efficiency or even an injury. Let's look at how properly matched hoses and fittings can impact efficiency and safety.

Efficiency Impact

According to IspatGuru, a publication run by a steel construction expert with over 50 years of industry experience, the typical efficiency of hydraulic pumps can vary from 90% to 98%. While this is already a big window of typical efficiency, you never want to do anything that would further impair these numbers. When it comes to hydraulic pump efficiency, it's all about flow. Flow is the movement of the fluid or air through the hose. This can be further broken down into flow rate and velocity. The flow rate is the volume of fluid produced by the pump during a specific amount of time. The flow velocity is the speed at which the fluid is traveling.

The size of the hydraulic hose will determine the flow rate, which will impact the flow velocity. If the hose size is wrong, the flow rate and velocity will be immediately changed. Unexpected changes in flow rate or flow velocity could cause serious problems elsewhere in your machine. This could affect productivity in a best-case scenario. In a worst-case scenario, it could create a dangerous amount of pressure within hoses that could cause damage to machinery.

Safety Impact

Having proper hoses and fittings available for hydraulic pumps is also crucial to the safety of workers. When you have high volumes of liquid passing through hoses, there is a precise formula for the pressure being placed on the fluid. When this pressure is changed, there is no way to anticipate how the fluid may react. There is also no way to predict what effects it might have on machinery. Both of these variables can lead to injuries if something goes wrong. If an employee is injured because hoses and fittings were not matched properly, the employer can be held liable.

If you're in charge of a hydraulic system, the fittings and hoses are elements that you have to get right. You can't afford to cut corners with these important details. Contact our team at Crown Hydraulics today to find the hose and fitting supplies to meet your job-specific needs.